Chapter 516 M1 Semi-Automatic Rifle
During this period, Charles is taking advantage of the time to train his troops, especially training them to use new equipment.
Browning produced the BAR and M1 semi-automatic rifles at the same time.
Everyone thought that the BAR would be put into service earlier because it was relatively mature. The prototype was a light machine gun, which was just improved into an automatic rifle. In addition, Browning had already produced a sample gun and even passed simple tests.
But surprisingly, it was the M1 semi-automatic rifle that appeared in front of everyone first.
Within just half a month, Browning delivered the first batch of 100 rifles for the soldiers to test.
He went to the headquarters to find Charles and asked in shock:
"Major General, it was perfect right out of the gate. I want to know how you did it?"
"The ammunition capacity, length, gas system, etc., everything fits perfectly."
“It’s almost impossible unless you consider every detail and even consider possible problems in the future and proactively avoid them!”
During testing, he found that the barrel wall of the BAR he designed was too thin, which could cause the barrel to explode during rapid firing, so further improvements were needed.
It's like in a 500-meter race, Charles let Browning run first, and when he saw that Browning was about to reach the finish line, Charles stood up calmly. Suddenly, Charles crossed the finish line and raised his hands high to accept the cheers of the audience.
Browning always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why.
Charles replied nonchalantly: "Maybe it's just luck, Mr. Browning. When I designed it, I thought of it more as a rifle than a light machine gun, and rifles are much more mature than light machine guns."
Browning thought about it for a while and finally nodded to accept Charles' explanation.
The M1 semi-automatic does have many similarities with the rifle, such as the handguard, barrel, bolt, etc., but the bolt action has been changed to semi-automatic.
More importantly, if we don't believe this explanation, what other reasons could there be for this situation?
talent?
luck?
Or something else!
…
The rifle test was successful, and Dominic once again served as an instructor, responsible for conducting live-fire training for an infantry company of the mechanics.
Soldiers fell in love with the M1 rifle the first time they fired it:
"God, it's like a machine gun."
"Yes, it feels great, too, and doesn't have the center of gravity shift of the Lebel rifle at all."
"If you take it to the battlefield, everyone will be jealous, including the Germans!"
…
Tijani was not interested in this semi-automatic rifle at first. He had a preconceived notion that the BAR, a fully automatic rifle that could fire continuously, was the best.
He even thought it was Charles's conspiracy.
Charles must be hoping to lure me with this rifle. Once I am equipped with this semi-automatic rifle, he can legitimately equip the armored division with BAR.
Be sure to hold back and don't be fooled!
However, when he saw the soldiers praising the semi-automatic rifle at the shooting range, he couldn't help but try it out.
“Bang, bang.”
“Bang, bang, bang!”
…
"Kang", the magazine pops out when the last bullet is fired.
Tijani was a little uncomfortable. He was used to loading the rifle by pulling the bolt after each bullet, and he always felt like there was a step missing when using a semi-automatic rifle.
The bullets come out so easily. You just need to pull the trigger and 8 bullets will be used up before you know it.
I raised the telescope and looked at the chest target a hundred meters away. There were five bullet holes, two of which were on the inner circle of the ten rings.
Dominic praised sincerely: "Your shooting is excellent, General. With such a high rate of fire and such high accuracy, especially since this is your first time trying a gun, you may be able to shoot better with a little practice."
Then he added: "If it was BAR, we wouldn't be so lucky."
Dominic just mentioned it casually and didn't mean to belittle BAR.
But Tijani was thinking about BAR, and was a little unhappy when he heard Dominic's words. He asked with a little displeasure: "What do you mean? Fully automatic is not as good as semi-automatic?"
The BAR has a higher rate of fire and ammunition capacity, and no one can resist that.
Dominic must be Charles's agent, secretly working on my mind!
Dominic said "uh" and explained:
"I don't know much about battlefields, General."
"But based on my knowledge of guns, I don't think the higher the rate of fire, the better."
"The Maxim is indeed better than a rifle, but it must be placed on the ground and fed with a belt to ensure its powerful firepower output."
"But a rifle is held in the hand and fired from the shoulder, and the ammunition capacity is limited, so it is impossible to fire as crazy as the Maxim. At this time..."
Tijani seemed to understand.
The continuous shooting of BAR is based on the loss of accuracy. The hit rate of 20 bullets fired in one breath may not be as high as that of a semi-automatic gun with 8 bullets.
It would be desirable if the BAR could output as much as a machine gun and make up for accuracy with quantity.
However, the properties of the rifle dictate that it can only have a 20-round ammunition capacity.
As a result, the BAR became a mediocre weapon, with an output lower than that of a machine gun and less accuracy than a rifle.
The M1 semi-automatic is just at the point where both accuracy and rate of fire are within acceptable range!
More importantly, the BAR can only be equipped to soldiers with outstanding physical fitness, while the M1 semi-automatic can be equipped to every soldier.
God, Tijani exclaimed inwardly as he looked at the semi-automatic rifle in his hand.
I was actually thinking about BAR?
Three soldiers equipped with an M1 semi-automatic rifle can have 24 rounds of bullets, which has a higher capacity and higher accuracy than the BAR.
How dumb is it to think that a rifle squad can only be equipped with one BAR?!
Thinking of this, Tijani no longer hesitated, grabbed his rifle and ran quickly towards Charles who was happily talking with several soldiers on the other side.
"Major General, can I talk to you?" Tijani asked.
"Of course." Charles nodded.
Tijani raised the semi-automatic rifle in his hand and said: "I hope my troops can be equipped with this rifle."
Charles frowned. "You're going too far, General. You want both full-automatic and semi-automatic. What do you want the armored division to use?"
Tijani said firmly, "Leave the fully automatic to the Armored Division. They may need the BAR more."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure."
Charles smiled and nodded: "As you wish, then equip the mechanized division first."
This gun was originally used for mechanized divisions, which often need to fight enemy infantry at long distances, and they need a rifle with a long range.
The armored divisions rely more on tanks for close combat, and sometimes have to rush into trenches to clear the way for the tanks. PPD submachine guns and shotguns are more suitable for them.
At this time, Charles inexplicably thought of the British Expeditionary Force Commander Haig, who would definitely like the M1 semi-automatic.
Haig felt that "machine guns were redundant" because he believed that as long as there were more people, there would be more rifles, and more rifles would fire more bullets, and their total firepower would eventually exceed that of machine guns.
The M1 semi-automatic is precisely an overall improvement in infantry firepower!
(End of this chapter)
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